Patriotic Jingoism at the Bar : Assault and intimidation of lawyers representing the minority community in criminal cases

SC issues notice to Bar Council, states on lawyers’ assault

New Delhi: Five lawyers hailing from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court alleging assaults and intimidation of lawyers representing the minority community in criminal cases. Mohd Shuaib was assaulted inside the court by lawyers and no action was taken against them. Advocate Jamal from Lucknow was expelled from the Faizabad Bar Association for daring to represent an accused. Advocate Noor Mohmmad from Ujjain was prevented from entering the court and warned of dire consequences. The District Bar Association, Nagpur, decided not to represent any of the accused persons. A similar resolution was passed by the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association which threatened action against any lawyer who went against the Bar resolution.

Notices were issued to the Bar Council of India, Rajasthan, MP, UP and Maharashtra by the Supreme Court and on hearing the matter the Supreme Court made the order dated 30.7.10 is given below:


“SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 494 OF 2008



MOHD. SHUAIB & ORS. …Petitioners



Versus



BAR COUNCIL OF INDIA & ORS. …Respondents



Date 30.07.2010 This petition was called on for hearing today.



CORAM:

HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE

HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN

HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SWATANTER KUMAR



For Petitioners: Mr. Colin Gonsalves, Sr. Advocate

Mr. Divya Jyoti, Advocate

Ms. Jyoti Mendiratta, Advocate



For Respondents: Mr. Sanjeev Sachdeva, Advocate

Mr. Chitranshul Sinha, Advocate



Mr. Uday B. Dube, Advocate

Mr. Kuldip Singh, Advocate



UPON hearing counsel the court made the following:

ORDER




Having heard learned counsel on both sides, the Bar Council of India has suggested certain steps which they will be taking. The proposed steps are submitted before us by the advocate appearing on behalf of the Bar Council of India, which read as under:

If any State Bar Council receives information/complaint that any advocate is being prevented by an advocate or advocates or any Bar Association from appearing and/or representing any accused, the Chairman of the State Bar Council and/or any member so empowered by the State Bar Council shall forthwith issue directions to the concerned advocate, advocates or Bar Association to cease and desist from such action.

In case the concerned advocate or advocates or any Bar Association does not cease and desist from such action then the information/complaint shall forthwith be referred to the Disciplinary Committee of the State Bar Council under section 35 of the Advocates Act, 1961.

In case the concerned advocate or advocates or Bar Association does cease and desist from such action then the information/complaint shall be placed before the State Bar Council in the next meeting of the Council for consideration of further action.

The State Bar Council after notice to the concerned advocate or advocates or Bar Association may refer the matter to the Disciplinary Committee of the State Bar Council under section 35 of the Advocates Act, 1961.

The State Bar Council shall also forward such information/complaint along with the orders issued to the Bar Council of India from time to time. The Bar Council of India on receiving such information, complaint and/or orders may issue appropriate directions under section 48B of the Advocates Act, 1961.

Needless to add, in terms of the said proposals, the Bar Council of India will take appropriate steps with respective State Bar Council, which will act in accordance with the said directions.

Accordingly, the writ petition is disposed of.



[Alka Dudeja ] [ Madhu Saxena ]
AR–cum-PS Assistant Registrar

Stop terrorist leader Sadhvi Rithambara from entering Britain

COUNCIL of INDIAN MUSLIMS (UK)
66c Cazenove Road, Stoke Newington, London N16 6AA
Patron: Lord Adam Patel of Blackburn


PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release



28 July 2010

Stop terrorist leader from entering Britain: British Indian Muslims Demand


British Indian Muslims have urged the British Government to stop a terrorist Hindu leader, Sadhvi Rithambara, from entering into Britain who is reported to be planning to tour Britain in September.

Liberhan Commission, appointed by the Indian Government to investigate the demolition of 16th Century Babri Mosque by Hindu militants, has held Sadhvi Rithambara and other 67 Hindu leaders guilty of demolition of the mosque and the subsequent violence that killed some 3,000 people across India. The priestess is also being also being investigated for her links with various bomb blasts carried by extremist Hindu organisations in India.

In a letter to Home Secretary Theresa May, the Chairman of Council of Indian Muslims—UK (CIM), Munaf Zeena has reminded that even in June 2007, when Sadhvi first visited Britain, the then Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith had not paid attention to his request to keep an eye on Sadhvi and the firebrand priestess was allowed to attend and address meetings organised by her supporters in which she is said to have collected around £78,000 for her notorious activities.

“Incidentally the news of ‘the priestess of hate’ being granted UK visa comes within a month of a Muslim preacher, Dr. Zakir Naik, being refused entry to the UK.

“Before Sadhvi, the mass murderer and Chief Minister (better known as Butcher) of Gujarat was allowed to be welcomed on British soil.

“Please allow us to remind you, Madam Home Secretary, that Modi has been refused visa by the US while during their visit in January to Gujarat two German MPs, Ute Granold and Pascal Kober, displayed exemplary courage and deplored Modi’s crime in 2002 as ethnic cleansing drawing parallels between Gujarat under Modi and Germany under Hitler.

“But, sadly, Modi has his supporters in the British parliament. One of them, Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North, is on record to have shamelessly praised Modi as “the lion of Gujarat”. In his recent election campaign he duped as low as trying to win Hindu Gujarati votes in his constituency and for this he uploaded on his web site recommendations by Modi, along with his photograph. The impact of Mr Gardiner’s election tactics on the voting pattern needs to be investigated.

“Madam, such brazen immorality by some politicians explains why and how elements like Modi and his admirer, Sadhvi Ritambra, are allowed to enter into Britain despite the fact that the visa application form clearly asks:


· “Have you ever been concerned in the commission, preparation, organisation or support of acts of terrorism, either within or outside the United Kingdom, or have you ever been a member of an organisation which has been involved in or advocated terrorism in furtherance of its aims?” (Section 4.15)

· “Have you ever been concerned in the commission, preparation or organisation of genocide or crimes, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed in the course of armed conflict?” (section 4.16)

The letter reads further, “in order to stop such confusion in future all of the 68 persons, held responsible for the destruction of the Babri Mosque, and BJP politicians, including Narendra Modi, being investigated for their role in the Gujarat Massacre of 2002, be declared persona non grata and told that they are not welcome on British soil.”


Ends


Council of Indian Muslims
66-68 Cazenove Road
Stoke Newington
London N16 6AA

Interview with D.R. Goyal (Frontline 31 July 2010)

Frontline, 31 July 2010

Culture of hate

AJOY ASHIRWAD MAHAPRASHASTA

Interview with D.R. Goyal, author of an authoritative narrative of RSS history.

SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY

D.R. Goyal. He says the militant ideology of the majority is more vicious than those of other sections.

D.R. GOYAL, at present with the Qaumi Ekta Trust, an anti-communalism front, wrote an account of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) in 1978, tracing its history and its politics. It is seen as the most authentic account of the RSS as he himself was an RSS member from 1942 to 1947. He left the organisation after realising that it was corrupt, prevented inventive thinking and propagated a culture of hatred among Hindus. He has also written a biography of Maulana Hussain Ahmed Madani of Dar-ul-Uloom and is now working on a book on Indian madrassas.

In an interview to Frontline, the author of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh elaborates on how the Hindutva hand in the Ajmer, Hyderabad and Malegaon blasts is nothing new and explains how Hindutva as a political ideology breeds terror.

The investigations in the Ajmer, Hyderabad and Malegaon blast cases point towards the involvement of Hindu fundamentalists. Over the past five years, we have heard a lot about fundamentalist Hindu organisations plotting bomb blasts in Muslim areas across the country. This kind of secret plotting seems to be a new development in India. What could be its political repercussions?

First of all, bomb-making and such other acts are not a new thing for these organisations. For example, in 1947, Mr L.K. Advani, then an RSS swayamsewak and not a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, ran away from Karachi because in his house bombs were being made to kill Mr Jinnah. Many of his associates were arrested and punished. He was able to get out. Now he says that he came by plane to Gujarat after the incident. But in his first biography by Atma Ram, it was said that he took a boat from Karachi to Gujarat and then could go to Rajasthan and other places in India.

It is not only bombs. Terrorism can take many forms. What happened in Gujarat in 2002? Is it not terrorism? See Kandhamal. Are they not terrorising Muslims and Christians? I would say that it is not Hindu terrorism, as most of the media have coined it, but it is Hindutva terrorism, which is political in nature.

Do you recollect any other instances in history where the RSS and other such Hindu organisations engaged with such forms of terrorism?

Many such instances can be noted. What was Madanlal Pahwa doing when he threw a bomb at Mahatma Gandhi? Was he not inspired by the RSS? After that, Nathuram Godse fired at Mahatma Gandhi and killed him. The RSS tried to wriggle out of the matter by trying to dissociate itself from Godse. But later, Frontline quoted Godse's brother as saying that they were all members of the RSS family. All the brothers, not only one. So, it is not a question of something new happening. They say that they are trying to be friendly with Muslims. The fact is that they can never do that ideologically. M.S. Golwalkar, the RSS' most important ideologue, in his book We or Our Nationhood Defined says the minorities in this country should be treated as Hitler treated Jews in Germany. So the Muslims and Christians should be treated the same way.

The RSS and other Hindutva organisations have started attacking media offices. For instance, the Headlines Today office was attacked in Delhi and Zee 24 was attacked in Mumbai. We saw the same kind of attack last year at the CNN-IBN office.

This, too, is nothing new. In pre-Independence days, they were against publishing any news about the RSS. Even if some newspaper published a report of Golwalkar arriving somewhere, it was attacked. Journalists were attacked for publishing news about the RSS. It is true that until 1947 there was hardly any news published about the activities of the RSS, which means that they were trying to work secretly. Secret work is always the mark of terrorists. They started open work only after 1947. The scheme was to set up a political front. Various issues of the RSS mouthpiece Organiser in the late 1940s clearly show a debate within the RSS whether to enter politics or not. The argument in favour of setting up a political party was that when the RSS was banned, there were no political voices to condemn the ban and defend it. It was with this objective that they formed the Jan Sangh. But it was not a regular party with a constitution, a concrete political programme, and a foreign policy stand. The Jan Sangh's only programme was to defend the RSS. And then they started taking up the issues of Akhand Bharat and abolition of Article 370. It was Atal Bihari Vajpayee who first stated that history could not be changed and Pakistan would have to be accepted as a nation state. Before that, they [Hindutva leaders] did not even accept Pakistan as an independent state. They wanted to have Pakistan just as Pakistan wanted to have Kashmir. But the BJP still publicly states that it draws its inspiration from the RSS.

I would say that their attitude towards social life is the same as that of the Taliban – those who are not Hindus have to be punished. Either you convert to Hinduism or you will be punished.

What explains the time gap of such terrorist action by the RSS and its sister groups? All the examples you gave were pre-Independence and the recent terrorist acts are not more than five years old.

In between, they were actively involved in engineering riots. If you look at the pattern of the Sangh Parivar-led riots, detailed planning and execution were involved. Babri Masjid demolition means for them a statement that unless they get back all the temples destroyed in history, they will demolish all the mosques. What does it mean? The RSS is creating an atmosphere where fear prevails and other people are expected to act out of fear through riots and carnage like in Kandhamal. See what is happening in Karnataka. The RSS, as an organisation, has not been properly understood both by our state and by our people.

The RSS, in rhetoric at least, has dissociated itself from organisations like Sanatan Sanstha, Abhinav Bharat or Sri Ram Sene, which have been linked to bomb blasts and rioting.

The RSS has always said that it is a social and cultural organisation and not a political one and that it does only social work. But the question to ask is: When did it start saying this? Only after it was banned. Golwalkar and Savarkar were arrested for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and were released only on the grounds that the prosecution could not produce enough witnesses. Some of the witnesses ran away. If Godse's brother is to be believed, all of them were RSS workers. Then it was the teachings of the RSS that prompted Nathuram to kill Gandhi. Madanlal Pahwa could also be cited as a case in point. It was banned because Sardar Patel himself wrote in a letter to [Jawaharlal] Nehru that saving Hindus was one thing but creating an atmosphere [of hatred] against Muslims was wrong. He also wrote that the worst thing the RSS did was to create an atmosphere that led to Gandhi being assassinated.

To get the ban withdrawn, the RSS submitted a constitution to the Home Ministry saying that it accepted the national flag and the Indian Constitution. Until 1949, the RSS had no constitution. The organisation had operated for almost a quarter of a century without a constitution. It was a secret organisation.

According to their constitution, they had to keep a record of its members. They have no such record as yet. Their constitution is not even known to many members. In 1967, there was a court question to the RSS about its finances and whether it paid taxes. The RSS replied that its work was akin to politics and it was not liable to pay taxes. Their accounts are all secret. When I was in the RSS, no one except Golwalkar was allowed to write anything. My fault was that I wrote three letters to a senior person in the RSS asking the organisation to help Hindus when the famine had broken out. This was criticised. My habit of reading was also severely discouraged. I was then asked to come to the central office where I saw all kinds of corruption. Money laundering was very much there. All these organisations are Hindutva carriers and members of the RSS. Dissociating itself from these organisations, therefore, would hardly prove the RSS' innocence. For instance, in 1969, riots broke out in Ahmedabad. There was a separate organisation called “Support for Hindus” to lead the riot. Similarly, when there were riots in Jalgaon and Bhiwandi, a similar organisation was set up. However, if you look at their composition, all the members were also members of the RSS. The parent organisation of such groups that engineer such riots is always the RSS.

In the teachings and writings of the RSS, do you see enough instigation for militant action?

The RSS was formed at the request of Savarkar, who had written the book Hindutva. But because Savarkar was not able to function openly owing to his house arrest, he asked K.B. Hedgewar to start a youth organisation as an affiliate to the Hindu Mahasabha to propagate Hindutva politics. It is well known that until 1937, the RSS was a volunteer organisation under the Hindu Mahasabha. But after Golwalkar lost an election for the post of secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha, he severed all relations with the Hindu Mahasabha. Golwalkar wrote We or Our Nationhood Defined and Bunch of Thoughts.

In Bunch of Thoughts, he clearly identifies three enemies – Muslims, Christians, and Communists. If you have defined enemies, it is assumed that you have to fight and kill them. He also wrote that sacrificing your life is not heroism but success is. He wrote about “parakramavada” (aggressive bravery). You have to be aggressive and win to become heroic.

When I was an RSS member as a child, I was very averse to bloodshed. They used to teach us how to kill pigeons as if we should start with pigeons, and then graduate later to killing bigger mortals.

In recent times, the appointment of Nitin Gadkari as president of the BJP is being seen as the RSS asserting its control over its political front again.

The job of the Jan Sangh was to defend the RSS. Power was never its objective. It so happened that in 1977 it was able to collaborate with other political parties. They [Hindutva forces] started getting into power. Then, in 1998, they got power at the Centre. When this happened, their old leaders Vajpayee and Advani started to see RSS chiefs and leaders as their juniors. As long as Golwalkar was alive and until Balasaheb Deoras was there in the RSS, these two leaders of the BJP revered them and were also afraid of them. After Golwalkar and Deoras, they felt that they were senior to the RSS chief. This led to some differences between the RSS and the BJP. Former RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan even went ahead to say that these two should take retirement. After Vajpayee became too ill to be politically active and the BJP lost the last parliamentary elections under Advani's leadership, the RSS used it to its advantage to impose its own man, Gadkari, on the BJP.

Factionalism, however, has grown in the RSS. Mohan Bhagwat is seen as a junior person. Students who go to colleges and schools prefer to go to Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad [student wing of the BJP] rather than an RSS shakha.

Could you tell us more about the process of indoctrination in the RSS?

The speech made by the RSS chief at the annual Dasara function in Nagpur is circulated to all the shakhas and the members are made to hear it many times. If you compare what Nitin Gadkari is talking about and what Bhagwat spoke of in the last meeting, they are similar. He talked about China, Maoists, failure in security arrangements – the same thing. They say that not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims.

What, according to you, will be the political repercussion of such a militant trend in the RSS and other Hindutva groups?

When they came to power at the Centre, they gave up the demands of a Ram temple [at the Babri Masjid site] and abolition of Article 370. Then a person like Kalyan Singh also declared that they were cowards. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad [VHP] refused to invite Advani to a function in Haridwar, complaining that he did not push the Ram temple issue. Both the RSS and the VHP are trying to revive the issue in another name, “Hanuman Jagaran”, but the BJP is reluctant. The VHP is planning to hold a meeting of sadhus and sants in Ayodhya to revive that. They may not be able to do that, but they are trying.

How do you differentiate between Hindutva terrorism and Islamist terrorism?

Terrorism always starts when a community identifies itself as a nation. The same is the case with the Taliban in Pakistan. The militant ideology of the majority section of population, however, is more vicious in nature. In Ludhiana, I remember a Muslim leader called Ludhianvi who was close to Nehru. When there were riots in Ludhiana, he sheltered many Muslims at his house.

Muslims thought since their leader was there, there was no need for them to leave their original homes. The RSS realised this, and every night fire torches and stones were thrown at his house. Subsequently, Nehru requested him to leave Ludhiana and come to Delhi. Now, there is hardly any Muslim population in Ludhiana.

Islamist terrorism, as I see in India, was not organised until recently. They were mostly reactions. You could see individual reactions from goondas like Dawood Ibrahim who held the torch of the Muslim cause. It was because Muslims were marginalised and discriminated against, the cause of which could be attributed to organisations like the RSS.

From 1950 onwards, a trend started wherein a riot results in polarisation and consolidation of Hindu votes in favour of the Jan Sangh and later the BJP. The inquiry commissions set up after every riot failed to point out that a particular organisation was behind it. Whenever the Sangh Parivar combine finds itself in a politically weak position, it does such things. See how the BJP, pushed to a corner in politics, is once again trying to revive the Hindutva debate through such terrorist acts. Hindutva forces have always used terrorism to their political advantage and not because they suffer socially and economically like the Muslims in India.

Short Cut to Hindu Rashtra (Frontline cover story) 31 July 2010

Frontline, Volume 27 - Issue 16 :: Jul. 31-Aug. 13, 2010

COVER STORY

Militant route to Hindu Rashtra

VENKITESH RAMAKRISHNAN

Frustrated by the dilution of hardcore Hindutva ideology, fringe groups in the Sangh Parivar turn to militancy.

V. SREENIVASA MURTHY

Pravin Togadia, The Vishwa Hindu Parishad's international general secretary. Hard-line Hindutva positions of leaders like him have encouraged the adventurism of those like Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Shrikant Purohit.

THE recent revelations about Hindutva terror strikes in various parts of the country have added a new dimension to the political and organisationalcrisis faced currently by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS)-led Sangh Parivar.

A senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader with a penchant for flaunting Marxian terminology in his individual interactions described the situation as follows: “For the past five years or so the RSS has tried to develop concrete organisational mechanisms to fight revisionism in the ranks of different Sangh Parivar organisations, particularly the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But the revelations in these so-called Hindutva terror cases do indicate that the Sangh Parivar as a whole needs to keep a watch on sectarian tendencies too in a section of the rank and file. That has indeed added to the burden of our tasks in the short, medium and long term.”

The VHP leader's assessment is at variance with the official statements of the Sangh Parivar leadership on the Hindutva terror cases ranging from the Malegaon blasts of 2006 to the Goa blasts of 2009. Leaders of the various outfits of the Hindutva combine, including RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Madhukar Bhagwat and BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad, have maintained that the Sangh Parivar has nothing do with any of the terror attacks. Both Bhagwatand Prasad went to the extent of stating that Congress governments at the Centre and in many States had falsely implicated Sangh Parivar activists in these cases as part of a “deliberate and malicious political ploy”to equate Hindutva organisations with jehadi outfits.

This difference in the public postures of the RSS and BJP top brass with the privately expressed assessment of the Sangh Parivar leadership comesas no surprise to observers of the Sangh Parivar's political and organisational methods. The art of multi-speak is built into the very structure of the Sangh Parivar. The different outfits and their leadership have practised thisas an effective tool in their political and organisational strategy since the mid-1980s, the period when the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation in Ayodhya peaked.

The strategy was put to telling use during the lead-up to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992, when the then BJP government of Kalyan Singh in Uttar Pradesh promised to protect the structure and then feigned helplessness as armed kar sevaks of the Sangh Parivar demolished the masjid. The so-called extremist wings of the Sangh Parivar,such as the VHP, then claimed victory in the demolition while some BJP leaders, including Lal Krishna Advani, maintained that they were saddened by it.

Divergent opinions

Themulti-speak has generally been nuanced and orchestrated, but there have been occasions when the expression of divergent opinions has gone out of its structured parameters. Such “straying” has happened even on the question ofsectarian influences within the Hindutva combine. One striking example of this can be found in the letter written by B.L. Sharma alias Prem to Advani in 1997, when he resigned as the BJP's Lok Sabha member from East Delhi. Sharma accused the BJP of forsaking the core principles of the Sangh Parivar and seeking power through unacceptable compromises, even with pro-Islamic elements. Sharma went on to visualise deliverance to the Hindu community through an insurrection in the armed forces.

Similarly, the VHP's current international general secretary, Pravin Togadia, made bold in 2001 to criticise the internal security policies of then BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre. In the wake of the attack on Parliament House in December 2001, Togadia announced at a VHP conclave in Mathura that the organisation would form groups of vigilantes across the country to keeptabs on suspiciousactivities and people on the lines of the civil society vigilantism Israel practises with the active collaboration of Mossad, its intelligence agency.

Sharma's proposal of “army intervention” or Togadia's Mossad-style civil society vigilantism was never formally followed up by the Sangh Parivar. However, these ideas find expression in the activities of the Hindutva terror groups. Investigations by national and State-level agencies into the activities of organisations such asAbhinav Bharat, the Rashtriya Jagran Manch and Sanatan Sanstha reveal that former or serving army officers, fascinated by the ideology of Hindutva, have played a major part in rearing and organising these outfits.

A. MAHESH KUMAR/AP

RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Madhukar Bhagwat. He maintains that the Sangh Parivar has nothing to do with any of the terror attacks.

The organisations and their leaders, such as Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retd), Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit and Swami Dayanand Pandey,have also tried to promote civil society vigilantism as propagated by Togadia. Investigation records show that they actually cultivated international organisations with Israeli and other connections.

A key piece of evidence in this regard came through the recordings in Swami Dayanand Pandey's laptop. The recordings revealed not only the planning that went into the 2008 Malegaon blasts but also the fact that Abhinav Bharat's leadership was in talks with groups based in Nepal and Israel to achieve the goal of establishing a “pure” Hindu Rashtra.

Obviously, none of this was sanctioned formally by the Sangh Parivar or its leadership. But the fact remains that these groups were inspired by and were literally following some of the ideas raised by some senior Sangh Parivar leaders.

The VHP leader who admitted to the presence of “sectarian tendencies” came up with some reasoning too. In his view, a number of“revisionist” ideological aberrations had contributed greatly to the rise of these tendencies. Hence, the Sangh Parivar's primary battle in this regard should be against the root cause, he opined. For many VHP leaders, all the problems that have come to afflict the Sangh Parivar, especially the BJP, arose during the six-year stint in power from 1998 to 2004.

The VHP leader said these years andthe run-up to them marked a phase of compromises on issues relating to ideology and political practice, such as the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, and advocacy of a uniform civil code.

He explained: “All these compromises were made as part of tactical electoral adjustments to win over allies, who were expected to be convinced about the Sangh Parivar'spositions over a period of time. Not only did nothing of that sort happen,but our cadre witnessed a substantial reduction in the moral and political authority of our leaders along with the toning down of Hindutva slogans. Many Sangh Parivar functionaries became attuned to the privileges and trappings of power. This departure from core Sangh Parivar values, in terms of both politics and organisational discipline, must have angered some of the rank and file and contributed to the strengthening of sectarian tendencies in them. That is why we want to keep the fight against the root cause at the centre of all political and organisational revival initiatives.”

PTI

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur with then BJP president Rajnath Singh (extreme right), Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan (left) and others when they met to condole the death of Laxman Singh Gaud, a member of the State Assembly, in a car accident in February 2008.

In fact, the VHP has consistently highlighted the issue of corruption within other organisations, especially the BJP, in the Hindutva combine.. VHP leaders such as Togadia have been openly critical of even Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who is widely considered to be an aggressive Hindutva leader on account of the 2002 genocide against Muslims in the State. Modi is rated by Togadia and his supporters as a person who has compromised with industrialists and big business houses.

Leaders such as Togadia and Ashok Singhal have stated repeatedly that the political philosophy of Hindutva is aimed at helping the “conventionally meek Hindu community to overcome this meekness and match it with the aggression of minority communities like Muslims”. Togadia holds the view that “when leaders of Hindutva organisations give up this historical position, we have no option but to oppose it”. Clearly, the hard-line Hindutva positions of leaders like Togadia, too, have encouraged the adventurism of those like Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Shrikant Purohit.

“Tasks ahead”

Significantly, in 2004, a document aimed at correcting ideological aberrations was formulated under the direction of the RSS and presented at the Mumbai national executive of the BJP, held from June 22 to June 24, 2004. That 42-page document, titled “Tasks Ahead: Immediate and Long-Term”, claimed to have formulated “the main tasks before the party in fulfilment of its resolve to re-energise itself in a comprehensive manner, in order to be able to successfully deal with both the immediate and long-term challenges before the party”. The thrust of this document, too, was on correcting the so-called revisionist tendencies. There was no mention at all of possible extremist or sectarian deviations from the Hindutva cadre and leadership.

The document stated:“Quantitative expansion brings in its wake qualitative deficiencies, which, if unchecked and uncorrected, can hinder further growth and even cause decline. However, an organisation that is aware of its purpose of existence and continually reminds itself of the goal for which it was founded never fails to study these shortcomings and to overcome them by applying necessary correctives. During the period of the party's phenomenal growth since the late 1980s many shortcomings have surfaced in the organisation. These are inconsistent with our party's ideals and objectives, with our distinctive ideology, and also with our guiding organisational principles and canons.”

The document went on to state that there had been “an erosion of commitment” to the principles of collective leadership, cooperation and commitment at various levels of the party. “Individualism, lack of consultation and coordination, and absence of camaraderie are taking root, diluting the effectiveness of the party's activities.” It also said that there was a “rapidly gathering impression that acts of indiscipline will be condoned and that even serious cases of anti-party activities will be overlooked” and that this“has done immense damage to the health of our organisation”.

The document pointed out that promoting individual commitments within the party at the cost of larger political and ideological interests had become widespread and that this had encouraged negative tendencies such as sycophancy, nepotism and corruption.

V. SUDERSHAN

Former BJP Presidents Rajnath Singh and L.K. Advani. "Rajnath Singh's elevation [as president in 2005, replacing Advani] was seen as one of the most important rectification initiatives in the post-2004 period, but nothing came of it," says a senior RSS leader.

According to a senior RSS leader from Uttar Pradesh, Rajnath Singh was asked to take over as BJP president from Advani in 2005 with the clear brief that he would implement the tasks listed in the document, and he was removed from the post in 2009 as he had failed to carry them out. “In fact, Rajnath Singh's elevation was seen as one of the most important rectification initiatives in the post-2004 period, but nothing came of it,” said the Lucknow-based senior RSS leader.

Obviously, the current BJP president,Nitin Gadkari, too, has a brief from the RSS to carry out these tasks. While there is a general consensus within the higher echelons of the Sangh Parivar that it is too early to make an overall assessment of Gadkari's performance, there is also the view that his stint so far – since December 2009 – has not been very inspiring in terms of correcting political and organisational deficiencies.

Gadkari'sdependence on established power and pressure groups in the organisational hierarchy to take decisions has been criticised widely within the Sangh Parivar. Still,he has the backing of the RSS leadership at this point of time, essentially on account of the argument that he needs more time to set things in order.

However, thewidespread impression within the rank and file of various Sangh Parivar organisations and among serious observers of the Parivar is that even top leaders of the RSS, including sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, will not be able to give Gadkari too long a rope.

“The context created by the revelations about the so-called Hindutva terror attacks and the extremist tendencies they signify underscore this impression,” said Lucknow-based political analyst Indra Bhushan Singh.

He is of the view that the present context makes it imperative for Gadkari to act fast, at least to create the impression that he is taking steps to advance the interests of the saffron party politically and organisationally. This would essentially involve an assertion of Hindutva in one way or the other.

In actual terms, says Indra Bhushan Singh, this will be directed more against the so-called revisionist tendencies, highlighted both by the VHP leader and in the 2004 document, and less against the so-called sectarian tendencies, which in a way are only a continuation of the original thrust of Hindutva politics.

CJP seeks formal legal representation for women eyewitnesses and survivors of the 2002 Gujarat carnage

The Hindu,

NEW DELHI, July 27, 2010

Setalvad seeks lawyers for Gujarat riot witnesses

Special Correspondent

The Hindu(From left) Rupaben Modi, survivor and eyewitness of the Gulberg Society massacre; Aruna Roy, social and political activist; Rajya Sabha member Brinda Karat and Jannatbi Kallubhai Shaikh, survivor and eyewitness of the Naroda Patiya massacre, at a function to release the `Survivors Citizens for Justice and Peace Report 2010' in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo: V. Sudershan

The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) has sought formal legal representation for women eyewitnesses and survivors of the 2002 Gujarat carnage.

In a report to the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Committee last week, the CJP said they were being forced to depose in trial courts in a hostile environment.

Victims of gender violence do not have women lawyers to protect them from further violation of their basic rights, it said.

Releasing here on Tuesday copies of “Survivors Citizens for Justice and Peace Report 2010,'' submitted to the CEDAW, Teesta Setalvad, secretary, CJP, said there was an urgent need to intervene in the ongoing justice process that involved 97 women eye-witnesses and survivors in nine critical trials.

She said the CJP had repeatedly petitioned the trial courts and the Supreme Court for ensuring formal legal representation to the victims but so far “the matter lies in appeal.''

She said witnesses had been brutalised and forced into “habitats of exclusion” because of their decision to pursue justice.

No compensation

Ms. Setalvad said no compensation had been paid by the State to the women victims.

“Nineteen of the State's 25 districts were affected in a well-organised and state-sponsored frenzy that took an estimated 2,500 lives. There was widespread displacement due to the targeted violence and the Internally Displaced Persons are now forced to live on non-regularised land and in temporary structures in relief camps. There is a constant fear and threat of further eviction because of overnight demolition by municipal bodies,'' the report said.

Releasing the report that contains details of the witnesses and their experiences during deposition, Brinda Karat, CPI (M) Member of Parliament, said it should be the basis of the Communal Violence Bill now being finalised.

Activist Aruna Roy said campaigns like this one helped in building public opinion and were partly responsible for the arrest of the former Gujarat Minister, Amit Shah.

a symposium on the implications of the unravelling 'Hindutava Terror' (28 July 2010)

SAHMAT

Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust

29, Feroze Shah Road , New Delhi -110001

Telephone- 23381276/ 23070787

e-mail-sahmat@ vsnl.com

27.7.2010

The Chief Reporter/Editor,

Wednesday July 28th, 2010, 4 pm

SAHMAT is holding a symposium on the implications of the unravelling 'Hindutava Terror' network during recent investigations. The linkages of the various groups across the country and their alleged associations with fatal bombings, as also their connections to other acts of intimidation including the long campaign against the artist MF Husain will be discussed in some detail.

The speakers:

Mani Shankar Aiyar, MP, Rajya Sabha
Sitaram Yechury, MP, Rajya Sabha
Teesta Setalvad, journalist and social activist
Subhash Gatade, journalist
Ram Rahman, SAHMAT

At: Conference Room, ICSSR,
The Indian Council for Social Science Research,
35 Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi.

Please get the event covered.

SAHMAT Tel: 2338 1276, 2307 0787

National tribunal on Kandhamal violence to be held in New Delhi (22-24 August 2010)

Link between violence, corporatisation must be analysed: Dhirendra Panda

The communal violence that took place in Orissa was part of a new phenomenon that started in the 1990s, keeping pace with liberalisation privatisation and globalisation. The link between communal violence and corporatisation must be analysed, said Dhirendra Panda, Coordinator, National Solidarity Forum and National Tribunal in New Delhi on Kandhamal.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Mr.Panda said that the forum, a platform for social activists, media persons, researchers, legal experts and like-minded individuals, had planned to organise a national tribunal on Kandhamal violence in New Delhi on August 22, 23 and 24.

In the Eastern Ghats region, dubbed as the ‘red corridor,' the victims of both communal violence and corporate violence were the same — it was the Dalits, tribals and other socially and economically marginalised sections of people.

Recent studies had highlighted another interesting fact: the ‘red corridor' was a political stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party since 60 per cent of the seats in the corridor were won by it.

Mr. Panda alleged that all those places were rich in mineral resources and had good forest cover. Big corporates had entered these places and started robbing the livelihood resources of the poor.

“It is a strange set of connections that is functioning in Orissa to alienate the marginalised.”

The attacks against the tribals and Dalits in Kandhamal by the Hindutva forces were planned and even after two years there was a sense of unrest in the district. People's Union for Civil Liberties, Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee and advocate Asma Jahangir of United Nations visited the district and stated that the situation there was not normal.

Stating that there was a total failure on the part of administration to check violence and take up rehabilitation efforts during the post-violence period, he said that large-scale migration had taken place in the district.

Eminent personalities such as Justice J.S. Verma, Urvashi Butalia, Vishnu Bhagawat, Harsh Mander and Seema Musthafa would participate in the public hearing. People's Watch, a non-governmental organisation based in Madurai, would present a report on the “Role of national human rights institutions during the violence in Kandhamal,” he said.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/07/25/stories/2010072561310600.htm
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Gujarat Survivors Citizens for Justice and Peace Report 2010 (New Delhi event on July 27, 2010)

Citizens for Justice and Peace

Invite for the Media

Gujarat 2002 Justice Delivery: A Fractured Process Release of Survivors Citizens for Justice and Peace Report 2010 submitted to the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
Statement Read in New York at the United Nations, July 22 2010

Survivors Citizens for Justice and Peace Report 2010

by

Brinda Karat Vice-President of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA)
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha

&

Aruna Roy, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) Rajasthan and Member of National Advisory Council
DATE JULY 27, 2010
TIME 3 P.M. onwards
VENUE DEPUTY CHAIRMAN HALL, THE CONSTITUTION CLUB, RAFI MARG, NEW DELHI 110001
Please do attend and give wide coverage to the event
Women Survivors Speak –

• Rupabehn Modi, Survivor & Eyewitness of Gulberg Society Massacre
• Jannatbi Kallubhai Shaikh, Survivor & Eyewitness of Naroda Patiya Massacre
• Shakila Ferozbhai Pathan, Survivor & Eyewitness of Naroda Patiya Massacre
• Farzana Aiyub Shaikh, Survivor & Eyewitness of Naroda Patiya Massacre

Teesta Setalvad
Secretary Citizens for Justice and Peace

SUBMITTED BY THE CITIZENS FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, AHMEDABAD-MUMBAI
Recognizing the Urgent Need for Monitoring and Intervention in the Ongoing Justice Process that Involves 97 Women Eye-Witnesses and Survivors in Nine Critical Trials

Why are tapes implicating ultra Hindutva outfits in terror blasts gathering dust?

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 30, Dated July 31, 2010

CURRENT AFFAIRS ATS TAPES

Malegaon. Mecca Masjid. Ajmer Sharif. Why are tapes implicating ultra Hindutva outfits in terror blasts gathering dust?

BY RANA AYYUB

Dayanand Pandey: Yesterday Brig. Mathur of the Deolali Cantt called and said, give me 20 men, I will train them.Col. Purohit: Maj. Prayag Modak was the one who came in our meeting and is helping us. There is Col. Raikar and Col. Hasmukh Patel. On 24 June 2007, we were to have a meeting with King Gyanendra. Col. Lajpat Prajwal, who is now a brigadier, was the one who made the meeting possible.

The conspirators Lt Col Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, prime accused in the Malegaon blast case

Tehelka has accessed 37 audio tapes, two videos and several witness statements that cast further light on the Malegaon blasts case of 2008. This conversation is just a snippet of the voluminous — and self-incriminating — evidence in these tapes which reveal the right-wing Hindutva terror network beyond Sadhvi Pragya and Colonel SP Purohit. The fact that such damning evidence has been in the possession of investigative agencies for a while but has not been acted upon, is testimony to a disturbing unwillingness by the State to unearth the larger conspiracy behind the blasts. .

Transcripts of some of these video and audio tapes were first published in Tehelka (Scheming, Hatred and Porn on Tape, 23 January 2009). They ­expose not just the complicity of members of various ultra Hindutva organisations from across the country but, interestingly, their vituperative hatred even for Sangh Parivar members who they ­believe are diluting their hate agenda against Muslims.

The Maharashtra Anti Terror Squad (ats) under its late chief, Hemant Karkare, had arrested high-profile seer Dayanand Pandey alias Shankaracharya and Col. SP Purohit for the planning and ­execution of the Malegaon blasts (2008) which claimed five lives. Another blast had taken place around the same time in Modasa, Gujarat, killing one.

Ramji Kalsangra is a key accused in the blasts. He apparently planted the bombs. Though the ATS had received specific intelligence in January on Kalsangra's presence in his hometown, it made no efforts to track him down.

The tapes show that the conspiracy was not just restricted to the 12 who were arrested. They throw up names of those who were sympathisers and funders, as suggested by Hemant Karkare in his last ­interview to Tehelka on 25 November 2008, a day before his death. The people mentioned are majors, brigadiers, police chiefs and politicians. But after the filing of the chargesheet, there has been silence.

Damningly, Tehelka also has a copy of an important department communication to a top ats official officials in the beginning of the year, with information on Ramji Kalsangra, a key accused. Kalsangra is wanted not just in the Malegaon blasts case but also for the Ajmer dargah, Mecca Masjid (Hyderabad), Malegaon mosque and Samjhauta Express blasts. Kalsangra was the one who planted the bombs and rode the bike used in the blasts. He was declared absconding. However, the department communication accessed by Tehelka speaks of specific information about Kalsangra’s whereabouts — the fact that he visited his mother on Diwali and Makar Sankranti and was being sheltered by a Patidar family in Gopipur, Madhya Pradesh. It also mentions his voter identity (MP 33 258 192304 Shajapur). Yet no action was taken.

Disillusioned officials say they were dismayed by the disinterest in pursuing these leads. In fact, the nexus between these blasts and the Modasa one now being established by central agencies could have been done much earlier had the ats not sat on the evidence.

At the time of filing its chargesheet in 2009, the Maharashtra ats had asserted that it had a watertight case against the accused. However, it ­remained silent on the involvement of the same accused in the Mecca Masjid blast of May 2007 which killed 14 people as well as the Ajmer dargah blasts of October 2007 which took four lives. It dismissed a statement by Maj. Nitin Joshi, member of Abhinav Bharat, that his colleague Col. Purohit had said that the rdx used in the Malegaon blasts was the same as that used for the Samjhauta blasts.

The tapes accessed by Tehelka also contain what amount to confessions of rioting. For instance, RP Singh, an ­endocrinologist at Apollo Hospital, tells Dayanand Pandey, “We burnt 25 Muslims at one go. Killing Muslims by day, practicing medicine at night: we have to do this. We have to spread terror. No more crying” (translated from Hindi).

The mayhem L to R: Aftermath of Malegaon blasts on 9 September 2006; gory evidence at Ajmer on 11 October 2007; bloodshed at Mecca Masjid on 7 May 2007

Further in the same conversation, Singh is heard discussing with BL Sharma Prem, former bjp mp, Maj. Ramesh Upadhyay and Col. Purohit (in custody for the Malegaon blasts) of attempting to kill Vice-President Hamid Ansari. Singh, also associated with the World Hindu Federation, says: “I had a very good relation with Ashok Singhal from the vhp. He is a great guy but the Sangh men did not let him continue… rss should also pay a price for its betrayal”.

Col. Purohit: “The Israelis ask us to give them proof of our involvement. What more proof do they need? We have done two such operations earlier which were successful. I was the one who had got the equipment for all of them”.

Ramesh Upadhyay: “Hyderabad mein jo bomb blasts kiya thha woh apna hi admi thha. Woh colonel apko batayenge kisne kiya thha. (The Hyderabad blasts were done by our man. The colonel can tell you who it was).”

In a curious twist — and in grotesque proof of the lengths this group is willing to go — the tapes also reveal big fissures within the Sangh Parivar. A week ago, a story broadcast by a television channel obliquely implicated rss leader Indresh Kumar in the terror conspiracy. However, in the tapes accessed by Tehelka, senior rss leader from Pune, Shyam Apte talks of meeting members of Abhinav Bharat. Startlingly, he is recorded talking to Dayanand Pandey about getting ­Indresh Kumar eliminated through a chemical which one of their men was to procure, for not sufficiently supporting their ultra-hardline activities. Pandey says: “Post mortem mein bhi woh cheez nahi aayegi, mere liye toh usmein koi risk nahi hai. (The post-mortem won’t show the chemical, there is no risk for me.) I have told him whatever time it takes, we are fine with it.” To which Apte adds that whatever money is needed for this should be given.

If sources in the Maharashtra ats are to be believed, Apte was on the verge of being arrested in November 2008 and broke down when confronted with the evidence by the ats team. However, ats chief Hemant Karkare died soon after in the Mumbai 26/11 attack and Apte was never arrested. Today, both he and RP Singh are walking free because agencies claim they have no corroborative evidence against them. Apart from these voluntary admissions on tape, of course.

Another example of inexplicable lethargy is Swami Aseemanand, who used to run the Shabri Ashram in the Dangs region of Gujarat. He is an accused in the Malegaon case, and the cbi now believes could be a key figure in the Hyderabad and Mecca Masjid blasts. He was spotted two months ago in Waghai village in Dangs in a blue Santro by local police informers. He was also spotted in April in Mahal district of Gujarat driving a white van. But no move was made against him.

Another despairing investigator says there did not seem to be a will to question vhp leader Pravin Togadia whose name crops up many times in the tapes: “They just could not prove that Togadia had given Rs 1 lakh to Abhinav Bharat. Nor were they able to investigate why Col. Purohit’s email account shriyaak@yahoo.co.in had four email ids of Praveen Togadia.”

YP Singh, ips officer and law expert, is also baffled by the go-slow. “How much really was done to make it a ­watertight case and to put in the dock all those in whose direction the leads were pointing?” he asks. The answers are disturbingly evident.

Read excerpts of transcripts of two tapes

Ayodhya: Abode of Ram and Allah

Ayodhya: Abode of Ram or Allah

Ram Puniyani

On the tragic day of 6th December 1992 the Babri Mosque, a 450 years old archeological structure was demolished by the RSS combine, (RSS, BJP, VHP, Bajrang dal and other progeny of RSS). A make shift temple was hurriedly constructed at the site. The RSS combine has been pressing since then for the resumption of its efforts to build a Ram temple at the site since they claim that Babri mosque was built by demolishing Ram Temple. This claim is not backed up by Historical and archeological data. The argument put forward was that ‘Faith’ will decide the birth place of Lord Ram and Sangh Parivar will be guided by the mahants and sadhus about the future course of action.

Meanwhile four court cases have been going on in the Allahabad High Court Lucknow bench, about the issue of title of the land, where Masjid was located. Of these four the arguments in three of the four Ayodhya title suit cases have been completed. The arguments for fourth case will be over by the month end (July 2010). While one is waiting the result of these court cases, RSS combine has already planned to build pressure for constructing Ram Temple, irrespective of the outcome of the court cases. The cases pertain to ownership of the land where the mosque was located. VHP etc. are asserting that no mosque will be permitted in Ayodhya. As per VHP, mosque has to be outside the ‘Shastriya Seema’ (Boundary) as given in the Ramcharita manas (The Ram Legend, by Tulsidas) of Ayodhay. Meaning there by that Ayodhya is a holy place of Hindus only. Meanwhile, BJP and other associates have been instructed to step up the demand for building Ram temple at the precise spot where they had demolished the mosque on 6th December 1992.

It must be made clear that Ayodhya means (A+Yudhya: A no war zone). It is not only holy for Hindus. Ayodhya has been a focal point of many religions, Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. From about fifth century BC fairly large Buddhist community was living in Ayodhya. Though this religion suffered a setback during first millennium AD, several remnants of its existence did survive. According to Jain tradition Ayodhya was the birthplace of the first and fourth Tirthankara. The early places of Hindu worship of Ayodhya were of Shaiva or Vishnu provenance. The specific worship of Rama even as an avatar of Vishnu is a much later development. References to the image of Rama appear only in sixth Century. Nawab of Awadh region, where Ayodhya is located had given land for the biggest temple in the area, Hanuman gadhi.


One of the arguments being put forward is that state should take up the building of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya the way Somnath temple was built by the state. Advani and many others have been claiming that the Somnath reconstruction was done as per the decision of the Nehru cabinet. This is a total lie. Since the public memory is too short anything propagated repeatedly starts sounding like being true, the way Hitler’s propaganda minister Gobbles used to do. Contrary to this a little peep into the recent history will show us that Indian Government had nothing to do with the reconstruction of Somnath temple. The lie that Nehru Government had reconstructed or supported Somnath reconstruction is a distortion of the fact that two ministers of Nehru cabinet were involved in the reconstruction in their personal capacity. As such when the idea of reconstructing temple at Somnath was mooted by Sardar Patel, Gandhi who was alive at that time opined that Hindus are themselves capable to build the temple and they don’t need Government money or assistance for reconstruction neither should Government give money for such a construction.

With the death of Sardar Patel, K.M.Munshi and N.V. Gadgil, who were ministers in Nehru’s Cabinet, took up reconstruction work at personal level. There was no question of reconstruction proposal being passed by the Cabinet as falsely being claimed by communal forces. After the completion of the temple for its inauguration, the then President of India Dr. Rajedra Prasad was invited. He accepted the invitation against the wishes of Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru opined that public officials should never publicly associate with faiths and shrines.

This falsehood is being deliberately put forward to pressurize for temple construction, irrespective of the court ruling. Today nearly two decades after the demolition of the Babri Mosque, we have seen as to how much damage this Ram temple campaign has done to the political scene in the country. One also recalls that immediately after the Babri demolition, the then Prime minister Narsimha Rao had proclaimed that the Mosque will be rebuilt at the same spot. Accepting the outcome of demolition will be giving legitimacy to the criminal act perpetrated by RSS combine.

At the moment there are diverse opinions about what should be done at the site. Most of the Muslim groups have committed to respect the court verdict. The VHP etc. on the contrary are campaigning for temple irrespective of the outcome of court cases. Even before the demolition they had asserted that it is the ‘faith’ and not the law of the land which will guide their actions. In a democracy, it is the law of the land which should dictate the policies of the state and the actions of political groups. At this crucial juncture, what is needed is the utmost respect for law and promotion of communal amity and national integration. Since the demolition of the masjid the communal amity has been badly mauled. The suspicion about each other, the communal divides have widened and there is a set back to the concept of the rights of weaker sections of society and minorities.

The spreading of lies and emotive campaigns by political parties are not in accordance with the values of Indian Constitution. The elected representatives of people are duty bound to follow the Indian Constitution, so there is a need to appeal to all concerned to come to this basic understanding to uphold the values of freedom movement as enshrined in the Indian Constitution and let the court judgment be the decisive factor of future course of action.

Hindutva terror’s deep roots exposed

Mail Today, 18 July 2010


Saffron Terror’s Hall of Shame

By Krishna Kumar

Why did the CBI sleep over vital leads provided by Hemant Karkare? These expose Hindutva terror’s deep roots

“What happened in Hyderabad’s [Mecca] Masjid and what is happening in other mosques hasn’t been done by the ISI. It was our people who were involved.”

TITLED Major Upadhaya. wma, this audio file in Malegaon blast suspect (and self-styled Shankaracharya) Dayanand Pande’s laptop shows why the CBI, which is patting itself on the back for cracking the Ajmer Sharif dargah and Mecca Masjid 2007 blasts, should have solved these cases last year. In the recording, Major Ramesh Upadhyaya (Retd.) is heard planning out the 2008 Malegaon blast that killed six and injured over 70. Other recordings recovered from Pande’s laptop reveal that the blast was just a small part of the terror outfit Abhinav Bharat’s diabolical gameplan. The radical organisation was even in talks with groups based in Nepal and Israel to achieve its stated goal of establishing a ‘pure’ Hindu Rashtra. This, as well as the other sinister designs of the Hindutva terror brigade, are stored in recordings on Pande’s laptop, which was recovered by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) led by Hemant Karkare in 2008. Another recording has Delhi Hindu Mahasabha chief Ayodhya Prasad Tripathi talking about his links with an anti-Islamic group based in the UK. “We are in regular touch with Stephen Gaus in England. He is a dreaded anti-communist and anti-Islamic.

His units are growing rapidly in France, Germany, England and America,” Tripathi is heard saying. In yet another recording, Malegaon blast ‘mastermind’ Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit talks about contacting King Gyanendra of Nepal for the training and shelter of the Abhinav Bharat men. Then, Pande mentions using the services of a British woman who works as a secretary in the United Nations to get the ‘Hindu Government in exile’ registered in the UN. Purohit, a Military Intelligence man, is heard talking about starting a military school in every state, where recruits would be given rifle training during the summer. He tells an as- yet unidentified man that the school could be used to hide people in case of “any police action”. The colonel goes on to say that the Sangh’s name should not be linked in any way to the schools. “We have to assume such a name that is deceptive. We will work under the name ‘Bastion Guards.’

There is nothing related to the Sangh. The saffron flag is also not there,” he says on tape. In another conversation, Purohit admits that the blasts (Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif) had been carried out by people he knew. The transcripts show not just how dangerous the men were but also why the investigations should have been taken over by central intelligence agencies immediately. “Listen to the tapes and you’ll understand why these men should be charged with sedition and waging war against the state,” said a former Maharashtra ATS officer involved in the investigations. The officer added that what the CBI is claiming as its findings had come to light during ATS investigations in 2008 itself. ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who was killed in the 26/11 attacks, was under tremendous pressure not to dig deep into the Malegaon case. “Both the opposition and some ministers in the state government were not happy with Karkare’s investigations.

A senior state cabinet minister in the Congress-NCP government known for his opposition to dance bars had blasted Karkare for the investigations just a week before his death,” said a source. The involvement of politicians and army officers in the Abhinav Bharat operations is perhaps why Karkare was pulled up. A witness in the Malegaon case said that a ‘Colonel Dhar’ (later identified as Lt Col Bappaditya Dhar) was present in an Abhinav Bharat meeting. Purohit had also named several officers. “There are many respected men who are not there today,” Purohit is learnt to have said, adding, “There is a Col Raikar, Col Shailesh Raikar, a Major Nitin Joshi, and a Col Hasmukh Patel.” The ATS is learnt to have interrogated Raikar and Dhar extensively but could not move against them as it did not have a watertight case. But it says that the Army should have stepped in and conducted an inquiry. The transcripts show how the ATS was hampered because of the large number of suspects spread across different states. As an ATS officer puts it, it would be a mistake to treat the Malegaon case as an aberration. The inter-linkages between the prime suspects in the terror attacks have shown that the ATS officer, indeed, is right.

Why then was the CBI sleeping over the information Karkare had recovered before attaining martyrdom on 26/11?

1. INDRESH KUMAR , RSS

LINKED TO THE BLASTS ACCUSED PROBED FOR: Close links with Sunil Joshi and Devender Gupta

RSS national executive member and close associate of Mohan Bhagwat, the sarsanghchalak, ‘ Indreshji’ is one of the Sangh Parivar’s main strategists. He is alleged to have been the major force behind communalising the Amarnath agitation in 2008 and also mobilising the Madhesis in Nepal against the Maoists. He launched the Muslim Ekta Manch to rally together ‘ nationalist’ Muslims.

Investigating agencies are examining his links with Devendra Gupta, key accused in the 2007 Ajmer Sharif bombing. Also being probed are his ties with Sunil Joshi, suspected to be the bomber behind the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif blasts.

2.SUNIL JOSHI , RSS

BLAST ACCUSED WHOSE MURDER IS A MYSTERY ACCUSED OF: Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid bombings

The main suspect in the 2007 blasts, this RSS pracharak was a friend of Malegaon accused Pragya Thakur and also faced the charge of murdering a local Congress leader. He was close to Swami Aseemanand, who had warned him of the imminent threat to his life post the blasts. Joshi had said to his friends that his mentor was Indresh Kumar. Investigating agencies are probing Joshi’s hand in the Amritsar- Lahore Samjhauta Express blasts in February 2007.

3. DEVENDRA GUPTA , RSS

HIS MOBILE SIM ‘ TRIGGERED’ AJMER BLAST ACCUSED OF: Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif dargah blasts

An RSS pracharak with Abhinav Bharat links, Gupta was arrested in Ajmer on April 28 on the charge of purchasing the SIM card that had triggered the Ajmer Sharif dargah bomb on October 11, 2007.

The SIM card had been purchased in Jharkhand, along with ten others.

Gupta is alleged to have been close to Sunil Joshi and Ramchandra Kalsangra, who had allegedly planted the bomb in Malegaon.

Gupta met Joshi in Mhow in 2006 and it was Kalsangra who introduced him to Pragya Thakur.

4.DAYANAND PANDE , RSS

SPIRITUAL GURU OF ABHINAV BHARAT AND PORN PURVEYOR ACCUSED OF: September 2008 Malegaon blast

Born Sudhakar Udaybhan Dwivedi, he has taken on many names. He started life as Swami Amrutnand Devtirth and then took on the more pious- sounding title of Shankaracharya and settled in Kashmir.

All the terror meetings were held in his presence and all the accused addressed him as ‘ swamiji’. His habit of recording all meetings and saving them on his laptop proved to be his undoing. The recordings are being used as evidence against him and his cohorts. Apart from these audio and video clips, cops have also found a cache of obscene pictures and clips that he had downloaded from the Net.

5. MAJ. RAMESH UPADHYAYA (RETIRED)

ABHINAV BHARAT, STALKER WHO TALKED OF ‘PURE’ HINDU RASHTRA ACCUSED OF: September 2008 Malegaon blast

Upadhyaya retired from the Army in 1988 and was the chief of the BJP’s ex-servicemen’s cell in Mumbai. The Maharashtra ATS claims he was a mere ‘member’ of the organisation, but from the tapes recovered from Pande it seems he was present in all meetings where the Malegaon bombing was planned. He used to interact at length with both Purohit and Pande. For all his talk of a ‘pure’ Hindu Rashtra, Upadhyaya had been arrested twice for stalking, threatening and posting indecent remarks about a woman whom he wanted to marry.

6.PRAGYA THAKUR

SANNYASIN WITH AN UNHOLY OBSESSION WITH BLOODSHED ACCUSED OF: September 2008 Malegaon blast

L.K. Advani might have defended her by claiming that she was a sadhvi but there was nothing holy about Pragya’s thoughts and actions. Advani’s claim was torn to shreds by the ATS, whose recorded telephone intercepts reveal how Pragya was disappointed when she heard that “just three people” had been killed in the Malegaon. Her involvement in Abhinav Bharat’s activities may not have been much, but she is suspected to have procured the explosives for the Malegaon blast. She didn’t get along with Purohit as both claimed to be leaders of the ‘Hindu Rashtra’ movement.

7.SHRIKANT P PUROHIT,

LT COL, MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ARMS PROCURER; GUN-RUNNER ON THE SIDE ACCUSED OF: September 2008 Malegaon blast

A fitness fanatic who knows four languages, the former Military Intelligence officer is said to be the brain behind the operation. The ATS believes Purohit had procured weapons and even RDX from an Army depot. Ironically, the man who wore Army colours is heard declaring in the Pande tapes that he doesn’t believe in the Constitution. The ATS says he knows about the other blasts and the people who carried them out, but he refuses to talk. Purohit was not averse to making money on the side. He was into gun-running as well.

8.SWAMI ASEEMANAND

MASTERMIND & GOOD FRIEND OF GUJARAT CHIEF MINISTER NARENDRA MODI

The ATS does not list him as an accused, but he’s very much under the scanner. The Kolkata native, known as Jatin Chatterjee before he donned his ochre robes, came to the Dangs district of Gujarat for a campaign to bring Christian converts back into the Hindu fold. A respected leader of the RSS, Aseemanand is said to be very close to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, which may be why the ATS has not been able to catch up with him. His interrogation will provide the ATS clues to piece together the Hindutva terror jigsaw.

9. RAMACHANDRA KALSANGRA & SANDEEP DANGE

SUSPECTED BOMBERS ACCUSED OF: Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif blasts

Very little is known about these shadowy characters except that they’re both from Indore and are suspected to be the bombers in the Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif blasts. They’ve eluded the CBI, which has declared a reward of Rs 10 lakh on each of them. Dange is also known as Parmanand; Kalsangra’s aliases are Ramji or Vishnu Patel. Both are around 35 years old and suspected to be major players in the Hindutva terror network.

10.ASHOK VARSHNEY & ASHOK BERRY, RSS

LINKED TO BLASTS ACCUSED OF: Providing assistance to Devendra Gupta

The two are being investigated by CBI for their alleged role in the Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid blasts. Varshney, a former RSS prant pracharak in Jharkhand, had allegedly sourced and handed over two SIM cards to Devendra Gupta, a key accused in the Ajmer Sharif bombing. These cards were allegedly used to stage the May 18, 2007, Mecca Masjid blast. The ATS’s of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and the CBI have grilled both Varshney and Berry, an RSS central committee member, many times since June 21 both in Lucknow and Delhi. Both Varshney and Berry had acknowledged their association with Gupta. Before his arrest on April 30, Gupta had stayed at Varshney’s Kanpur home.

11. B.L. SHARMA ‘PREM’, BJP

PLANNING BIG ON THE MASS CONVERSIONS OF MUSLIMS ACCUSED OF: One of Abhinav Bharat’s founders. Close to Pandey and Purohit

Also known as Prem Singh Sher after he embraced the Khalsa Panth in 1999, Sharma is a two-time BJP Member of the Lok Sabha. He was first elected from East Delhi in 1991 and then in 1996. He fought the last parliamentary elections in 2009 from Delhi North East, but lost to Jai Prakash Aggarwal. In a video recording accessed by Headlines Today, he is seen in discussions with Pandey and Purohit on starting a terror movement against Muslims. The meeting is believed to have taken place at a Nashik temple in 2007.

12.RAKESH DHAWADE & SHARAD KUNTE

LINKED WITH BOMB MAKING ACCUSED OF: Dhawade, of imparting bomb training. He accuses Kunte of being engaged in the same task

A research fellow at the Institute of Research and Development in Oriental Studies (IRDOS), Pune, Dhawade has been charged by the Maharashtra ATS with “imparting training and exploding a bomb in Parbhani and Jalna”. Dhawade is said to be a ‘weapons collector’ because of his vast collection of antique arms. In a statement recorded before a magistrate, Dhawade has named Sharad Kunte, a Pune professor who teaches at the Narsooji Wadia College, as the man who taught students to make bombs. Kunte was the VHP’s Pune unit president for many years. He has been questioned by the ATS, but not booked.

13.LOKESH SHARMA

Abhinav Bharat MURDER ACCUSED & BLAST SUSPECT ACCUSED OF Involvement in the Ajmer Sharif bombing

The Indore resident, who is among the 14 who have been charged with the murder of a local Congress leader in August 2003, was picked up by the Rajasthan ATS from the Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh on May 14. The ATS got wind of him after it had questioned the Ajmer blast accused, Devendra Gupta and Chandrashekhar Borad, who had been arrested on April 29. Sunil Joshi, deceased suspected bomber, was also one of the accused in the Congress leader’s murder. Sharma is out on bail in the case. The common link that binds all of them is their loyalty to the fiery sadhvi, Pragya Thakur.

UNITED TO DIVIDE BHARAT

The key people who were prepared to go to any length to wreck India for their dream to establish a Hindu Rashtra

Saffron Terror Tapes Revealed on Headlines Today

Saffron brigade's dark secret exposed
Thirteen videos

July 15, 2010 | 00:00 IST
Headlines Today accesses material-in the form of video tapes and witness accounts available with investigators-that puts elements within the Sangh Parivar under the scanner.

http://tinyurl.com/27sswcl

BJP again getting involved in the Temple game

The Hindu
July 17, 2010

VHP to co-opt BJP in fresh Ayodhya movement

by Neena Vyas

The Bharatiya Janata Party's services have been enlisted by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for giving a fresh life to the Ram temple movement.

At the kumbh mela in Haridwar this January-February, a plan to re-ignite the interest in the Ram temple issue was drawn up by ‘sants' associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. That has now been finalised and announced, with the RSS stepping in to ensure all its affiliates, including the BJP, participate in large numbers.

The RSS-VHP decision has come when arguments are over in three of the four Ayodhya title suit cases before the three-judge Bench of the Allahabad High Court in Lucknow. In the fourth suit — all the four have been consolidated — arguments are expected to be completed by this month end. “We expect all the arguments to be completed by July-end and the judgment reserved,” said Zafaryab Jilani, advocate for the Sunni Wakf Board and some other Muslim parties to the suit.

“We want to keep up the pressure at a time when the court would be reserving its judgment,” said a member of the sangh parivar. The idea was to “familiarise” the generation born after the 1989 to 1992 Ayodhya agitation with the highpoints of that movement, said Prakash Sharma, VHP spokesperson. The plan was that sangh members would visit individual homes, especially in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and remind people of “the commitment to build a Ram temple,” Mr. Sharma said.

Asked about the BJP's participation in the programme, Mr. Sharma's answer was: “Yes, the BJP is expected to participate” and “we will appeal to all political parties to do the same.”

Part of the plan is to organise reading of Hanuman chalisas in temples throughout the country, with a focus on 8,000 temples selected for this activity. “Hanuman chalisas will be read at those temples 11 times during the day and we want hundreds and thousands of people to attend them,” Mr. Sharma said. This revival of the temple agitation would be done from August 16 to November 15.

At a recent meeting between the sangh and BJP leaders in Bihar — Arun Jaitley and Ananth Kumar were present — the Hanuman Chalisa programme was discussed and orders given that the BJP ensure participation by its members. With Assembly elections due in October-November, the programme will coincide with the election campaign.

There are some in the BJP who feel this could be counter productive as it would make nonsense of the BJP's new development plank. One party leader said: “If the programme is taken up in a big way, it could lead to Muslim consolidation against the Janata Dal (United)-BJP combine; just what Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wanted to prevent by objecting to the publicity offensive by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi during the recent Patna conclave of the party.”

Uncertain of what campaign tricks the BJP may play, the Janata Dal (United) has made it clear it will not have a joint manifesto with the BJP. “We can later work out a common minimum programme of governance,” its president Sharad Yadav said.

The VHP spokesperson said several decisions were taken at the kumbh mela. A Ram temple must come up at the disputed site in Ayodhya, irrespective of the court verdict. The government must legislate to let this happen. Any attempt to allow the building of a mosque within the limits of Ayodhya, even outside the disputed site, must be thwarted.

Hindu right's VHP again whipping up the temple mania

The Times of India

Mosque to be off Ayodhya limits: VHP
Manjari Mishra, TNN, July 17, 2010, 05.44am IST

LUCKNOW: No mosque in Ayodhya and no mosque named Babri anywhere in the country. The three-day high-level meet of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), held in the temple town after a long gap of 18 years, concluded on an overtly belligerent note. And even though the saffron camp denied any link with the judgement in 60-year-old Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title suit, expected any time after July, the timing and also the venue --Karsevak Puram which houses the 60 percent stone blocks ready for a new temple -- is being interpreted as a last-ditch effort at whipping up the temple mania to gain lost ground.

The mosque, the resolution stresses, "has to be off the 'Shastriya Seema' of Ayodhya as described in Ram Charitmanas," which literally pushes any proposed replica of the 16 century Babri Masjid out of the town limit. It also categorically states that "no mosque named after a 'videshi atatayi' (foreign invader) will be allowed to come up in any part of Bharat". This declaration is, however, soft-cushioned by a proposal: "If the Muslims agree to the sane advise and decide to shift the mosque outside Ayodhya, Hindus will help out in construction by rendering kar seva."

Last meeting of the VHP Kendriya Prabandh Samiti was held in Ayodhya three months before the Babri demolition. The event, therefore, gained significance and led to much speculation in the government. "We have made our stand clear. Ram Lala needs to be housed after having roughed it out in tents and barsati for 20 long years," said Ayodhya VHP unit incharge Sharad Sharma. There can be no compromise on the issue any more, he added.

The meet also passed the final blueprint of the Jagran Yatra which will be officially launched from Ayodhya on August 16. At nine sharp on the prescribed date, 5,000-odd temples in Ayodhya will begin a simultaneous recitation of Hanuman Chalisa as the inaugural ceremony. Leading it all will be the head of Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas Mahant Nrityagopal Das, the head of Akhil Bhartiya Akhada Parishad and head mahant of famous Hanuman Garhi temple Mahant Gyandas and former Ayodhya MP RVD Vednati.

The four months mega jamboree will cover two lakh villages and 10 lakh temples across the nation to give a wakeup call to the Hindus, said Sharma. The blueprint of the yatra is said to be a follow up of the Kumbh resolution passed by the dharmachryas which called for a massive mobilisation and awareness campaign.

Suspected RSS workers attack TV Today office

source URL: http://tinyurl.com/26r42st


CNN-IBN
Posted on Jul 16, 2010 at 18:44

New Delhi: After Headlines Today broke a story on saffron terror, suspected RSS workers attacked TV Today office here on Friday in retaliation.

The activists tried to barge into the building. But they were prevented from entering the offices of the media house. The TV Today's Hindi channel Aaj Tak had recently reported the alleged links of some RSS activists to Mecca Masjid blast accused. They had even done a sting operation on senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar.

In a blatant attack on the media's freedom of speech and expression, the activists broke glass panes and destroyed property in the process. A large mob gathered outside the office building and shouted slogans in support of their leaders exposed by Headlines Today's expose.

The mob held up the streets leading to the building, not allowing traffic and creating panic among bystanders.

Bid to Assasinate India's Vice President by the Hindu Right

Mail Today, 16 July 2010


HINDUTVA PLOT TO KILL V- P EXPOSED

By Ashish Khetan of Headlines Today

An exclusive peek into CBI investigations uncovers the role played by the saffron brigade in fomenting terrorist activities

CBI INVESTIGATIONS have exposed that the Hindutva terror brigade was contemplating an assassination bid on Vice- President Hamid Ansari during the annual convocation of the Jamia Millia Islamia in October 2007.

The investigating agency stumbled upon the extent to which the terror brigade was prepared to go while analysing audio recordings recovered from the 2007 Malegaon blasts accused, and self- proclaimed Shankaracharya Dayanand Pandey’s laptop.

Its suspicion is based on an exchange between the ‘ Shankaracharya’ and Dr R. P. Singh, an endocrinologist practising at the Apollo Hospital in Delhi.

Here’s the exchange that aroused the CBI’s suspicion — it took place in January 2008 and has been accessed by Headlines Today : ‘ Shankaracharya’: The country’s vice- president Hamid Ansari was present at an awards function at Jamia Millia Islamia.

Dr R. P. Singh: I had gone to protest against him. I was carrying 15 litres of petrol but didn’t get the chance to do anything.

The voices in the audio recording have been verified as belonging to the two men by a forensic science laboratory. The CBI had interrogated Dr Singh after the audio recording had come to light and subsequently let him go. Dr Singh has not been questioned since then. Pandey, who’s now lodged in Nashik Jail, had been nabbed by the late Maharashtra Anti- Terrorism Squad ( ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, days before he was killed during the 26/ 11 Mumbai terror strikes.

In the audio recording, Pandey was speaking with Dr Singh at a meeting held in Faridabad allegedly to discuss the Hindutva terror plan. Others present were Malegaon blasts key accused Lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit and Delhi BJP leader ( and former East Delhi MP) B. L. Sharma ‘ Prem’. In the same meeting, Lt Col Purohit declared he had stopped believing in the Indian Constitution and would fight to establish a Hindu Rashtra.

He said: “ And If we toe the same line and abide by this Constitution, then we’ll become just like them. That’s why we talk about fighting the Constitution. We will fight this nation. This nations is not ours.

… We will fight for freedom. Hindu freedom.” Information accessed by Headlines Today from the investigators shows that Dr Singh was part of a larger saffron terror ring operating in the country. But although Pandey was arrested and booked on terror charges, Dr Singh is a free man.

Sources in the Maharashtra ATS informed Headlines Today that they didn’t arrest the doctor because there was no evidence to link him with the Malegaon blasts. Singh, even after being let off, is under the CBI scanner.

The recordings on Pandey’s laptop reveal more of Singh’s communal designs: “ Your number one enemy is the Muslim. I will start killing them from Delhi itself. I will start with killing and looting the thousand- two thousand of them who have opened showrooms.” By his own admission, Singh was procuring arms and ammunition to target the minority community. In one meeting he could be heard asking Purohit to supply him grenades, detonators and RDX. Sample this conversation: Lt Col Purohit: We will keep talking on the phone. I will keep giving you information about what I am doing, and you keep giving me information about what you are doing. The sole reason for this is that it will help in planning… As far as shelter training goes, you can talk to me about it anytime, even midnight.

Dr Singh: I want grenades, high- voltage detonators, high- voltage batteries and RDX.

… Those we approached said the army can give it. If we get this then we can put up a glorious war. I can get you at least a hundred suicidal people from Jammu.” As the CBI pieces together the Hindutva terror jigsaw, it’s becoming apparent that the agency has only scratched the surface.

Take decisive action against Hindutva terrorism

Mail Today, 16 July 2010

COMMENT

Get to the bottom of RSS link with terror attacks

Investigations into the Mecca Masjid, Ajmer Sharif and Malegaon terror attacks appear to be exposing the true face of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Though the RSS has posed as the custodian of Indian nationalism, it has, in fact, sought to undermine the core values of the republic.

The inspiration behind the RSS was not Indian nationalism and not even Hindu religion, but Italian fascism. BS Moonje, the mentor of RSS founder KB Hedgewar, and the brain behind the RSS, conceptualised the organisation on the lines of Benito Mussolini’s Blackshirts. A great admirer of the Italian dictator, Moonje even visited him in 1931.

It is the same fascist inspired deviant nationalism that drove a group of ex- RSS members like Nathuram Godse to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi. The role of the RSS in the Mahatma’s assassination has been clearly established by the Jivan Lal Kapur Commission. The involvement of RSS members in the recent terror attacks— including the alleged role of senior leader Indresh Kumar— is a manifestation of the same deviant, if not pervert, nationalism.

The big danger of Hindutva terror is in its attempt to disguise itself as nationalist even while attacking the very foundations of the republic: secularism and democracy. In this context there is need to investigate a security conclave organised by Mr Kumar in which officials, perhaps retired, from the military, security agencies and the administrative services participated.

The law enforcement agencies should not be taken in by the nationalistic pose adopted by Hindutva extremists. But more importantly, they need to be combated politically rather than through some administrative ban or sanctions. There is need for quick and decisive action on the part of like- minded political parties, civil society and the administration to check this cancer.